Cotton-mouth On Red Eyed Tetra?

Does anyone have experience of Cotton-mouth disease?

I noticed one of my Red Eyed Tetra has a lump / fungus filling his mouth.

First noticed this last night right after feeding, but then lost sight of the fish and thought it was just a lump of food that had passed.

Just seen him again today with the same issue.

He is still eating or at least making the motion to eat (hard to say) and not acting strange. No other issue that I can see.

50g Planted. Ammonia 0, Nitrite 0, Nitrate 10.
Fully cycled for 4 months.
50% Weekly water change and vacuum.

Tank mates: 16x Red Eyed Tetra. 8x Rummynose Tetra. 3x German Blue Ram. 2x Apistogramma Cacatuoides. 1x Pearl Gourami.

Does this look like Cotton-mouth?








Its very noticeable even from a long distance:

 

It does look like a bacterial infection. Probably a good idea to remove the infected fish asap. The fish might respond to antibiotics, but recovery is unlikely.
The mouth tissue doesn't regenerate, so even if the fish survives he will be left with a gapeing hole for a mouth.

 

I've been trying to catch him for the last 20 minutes.

I'm making a real mess of it. So far I've caught two of the wrong Red Eyes and made two others jump out of the tank - they went straight back in, but what a mess.

Any tips for catching such fast and strong swimming little fish in a heavily planted tank?

 

It's going to get worse before it gets better :

 

Well I managed to catch him in the end. I'm afraid I decided to put him down.

I believe columnaris can wipe out a tank in a matter of days if left unchecked.

I'll admit I got into a bit of a panic over the idea, but I do think it was the right thing to do.

Maybe I mis-diagnosed the issue?

 

I doubt itnis columnaris. Looks more like mouthrot (pseudomonas / aeromonas)

 

I doubt itnis columnaris. Looks more like mouthrot (pseudomonas / aeromonas)

Yes that was A201 's first impression as well.

I'll will be pleased if this is the end of it, and no other fish become sick.

 

I don't think you are dealing with a tank killer disease. Just concentrate on keeping the water pristine. All fishkeepers deal with this issue at some point.

 

Use 2 Nets

 

Yes that was A201 's first impression as well.

I'll will be pleased if this is the end of it, and no other fish become sick.

If it's columnaris, you should know by tomorrow or the day after. I've heard it wipes out a tank in no time. Looks like your others don't have symptoms and are swimming around. I agree that it probably isn't.

 

Sorry for your loss and hope it doesn’t infect anyone else... in the future if u need to catch speedy fish drop the water level way down less places for them to swim and hide and less chance of others jumping out.

 

Sorry for your loss and hope it doesn’t infect anyone else... in the future if u need to catch speedy fish drop the water level way down less places for them to swim and hide and less chance of others jumping out.

Yes I should have probably done that. It would have helped.

It was 11pm when I started and the wife and kids were asleep - tried to do it quickly but just made things worse.

The plants and the wood made it impossible. Once they were out it moved along quite quickly.